Platyhystrix

Platyhystrix
Temporal range: Latest Pennsylvanian (Late Gzhelian) - Early Permian, 299–279.5 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: †Temnospondyli
Family: †Dissorophidae
Genus: †Platyhystrix
Williston, 1911
Species:
†P. rugosus
Binomial name
†Platyhystrix rugosus
(Case, 1910)
Synonyms
  • Zatrachys apicalis Case, 1910

Platyhystrix (from Greek: πλατύς platús, 'flat' and Greek: ῠ̔́στρῐξ hústrix, 'porcupine') is an extinct temnospondyl amphibian with a distinctive sail along its back, similar to the unrelated synapsids, Dimetrodon and Edaphosaurus. It lived during the boundary between the latest Carboniferous and earliest Permian periods throughout what is now known as the Four Corners, Texas, and Kansas about 300 million years ago.

Not much is known about Platyhystrix, with a majority of the fossils found composed of the distinct neural spines, and fractured skull fragments.[1][2][3] There is only one species within the genus. Its phylogenetic relationship to other members of the family Dissorophidae has been debated in recent years, due to its unique cranial features, and recent discoveries as to the origins of modern day Lissamphibians.[4][5] Synonyms and alternate spellings include: Zatrachys apicalis, Ctenosaurus rugosus, Platyhystryx, Platyhistryx[6][7][8][1].

  1. ^ a b Case, E.C. (1910). "New or little known reptiles and amphibians from the Permian (?) of Texas". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 28: 163–181.
  2. ^ Berman, David S.; Reisz, Robert R.; Fracasso, Michael A. (1981-12-18). "Skull of the Lower Permian dissorophid amphibian Platyhysthx mgosiis". Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 50: 391–416. doi:10.5962/p.214500. ISSN 0097-4463.
  3. ^ Vaughn, Peter Paul (1962). "Vertebrates from the Halgaito Tongue of the Cutler Formation, Permian of San Juan County, Utah". Journal of Paleontology. 36 (3): 529–539. ISSN 0022-3360. JSTOR 1301085.
  4. ^ Atkins, Jade B.; Reisz, Robert R.; Maddin, Hillary C. (2019-03-22). "Braincase simplification and the origin of lissamphibians". PLOS ONE. 14 (3): e0213694. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0213694. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 6430379. PMID 30901341.
  5. ^ Schoch, Rainer R. (August 2012). "Character distribution and phylogeny of the dissorophid temnospondyls". Fossil Record. 15 (2): 121–137. doi:10.1002/mmng.201200010.
  6. ^ Williston, Samuel Wendell (1911). American Permian vertebrates. Chicago, Ill.: The University of Chicago Press. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.54741.
  7. ^ "I. The structure, evolution and origin of the amphibia. - The "orders' rachitomi and stereospondyli". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Containing Papers of a Biological Character. 209 (360–371): 1–73. January 1920. doi:10.1098/rstb.1920.0001. ISSN 0264-3960.
  8. ^ Williston, S.W. (1916). "Synopsis of the American Permo-Carboniferous Tetrapoda". Contributions of the Walker Museum. 1: 193–236.